Malaysia: ILGA Asia condemns the establishment of ‘Rehabilitation’ Centers targeting LGBTIQ persons
On 29 November 2023, the state government of Johor in Malaysia pledged 86000 USD to establish a ‘rehabilitation’ center targeting LGBTIQ individuals and others deemed to be ‘deviant’ to Islamic teachings by July 2024. State Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman recently announced their plans for the center stating that it was meant to ‘tackle those who have veered from the right path’ and ‘those convicted of committing same-sex relations.’ Malaysian human rights organizations, such as Justice for Sisters (JFS), have condemned this, emphasizing that targeting and detaining individuals in an attempt to change their gender identity or sexual orientation, amounts to a gross violation of their human rights.
The establishment of the center marks another step in the escalating history of state-endorsed hostility towards the LGBTIQ community in Malaysia. In 2022 ILGA Asia took note of the worrying state of LGBTIQ rights in the country, stressing upon the escalating crackdowns on individuals in both online and offline spaces. Same-sex sexual activity remains criminalized in Malaysia being categorized as acts of ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ and ‘gross indecency’ under Section 377 of the Malaysian Penal Code. The provisions carry a penalty of up to 20 years of imprisonment as well as punishment by whipping. Same-sex sexual activity between men and women called ‘liwat’ and ‘musahaqah’ respectively are also criminalized under Sections 25 and 26 of the Syariah Criminal Procedure (Federal Territories) Act carrying punishment of fines, whipping and imprisonment. Transgender persons in Malaysia are particularly vulnerable to violence and discrimination at the hands of authorities and can face prosecution under the so-called ‘cross-dressing’ provisions of the federal statutes in all provinces of Malaysia.
LGBTIQ persons across the country are routinely arrested and convicted under these laws and subjected physical and verbal abuse in the process. Law enforcement officials have been known to conduct ‘raids’ on LBGTIQ gatherings often vocally endorsed and encouraged by the Malaysian Government. In 2021 the Malaysian Department for Islamic Affairs initiated proceedings against prominent transgender entrepreneur Nur Sajat, subjecting her to abuse and harassment in the process and forcing her to flee the country seeking asylum in Thailand. More recently 5 transgender women were arrested in a raid the police pejoratively called “Operation Transgender Prevention''. The targeted prosecutions of LGBTIQ persons in Malaysia are also often carried out to "serve as a lesson to society" as highlighted by the public caning of two lesbian women convicted by a religious court in 2018.
The aggressive criminal prosecution of LGBTIQ individuals are coupled with efforts of the Government to “prevent” and “reform” LGBTIQ lifestyles. The federal Islamic and Affairs department and several state Islamic departments have conducted programmes which included “conversion” practices aimed at Muslim LGBTIQ persons. In 2021 former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told the parliament that these programmes had ‘successfully rehabilitated’ 1733 individuals. So-called “conversion therapy” and allied practices have been widely discredited by experts and globally condemned for their detrimental impact on an individuals' mental, emotional, and physical well-being. In 2020 the UN Independent Expert on SOGIE in called for a ban on “conversion therapy” highlighting that such practices are” by their very nature degrading, inhuman and cruel and create a significant risk of torture” for LGBTIQ person worldwide. In 2018 the CEDAW Committee called upon the government of Malaysia to amend all discriminatory provisions of the Penal Code and Syariah Laws that target LBTI persons and urgently discontinue ‘corrective’ practices. Further, Malaysian activists have pointed out that without comprehensive legal reform and political support, progress for LGBTIQ rights in the country will be slow and difficult.
ILGA Asia unequivocally condemns “conversion therapy” and any allied practices aimed at altering the innate identities of LGBTIQ persons. ILGA Asia calls upon the Malaysian government to quash the establishment of such “rehabilitation centers'' and put an immediate end to all “conversion therapy” programmes in the country. It is imperative that the government upholds its commitment to human rights and ensures that everyone, irrespective of their SOGIESC, is treated with dignity and respect.
For further queries, please contact
Ajita Banerjie, Senior Research and Policy Officer (ajita@ilgaasia.org)
Nadine Hassan, Senior Communications Officer (nadine@ilgaasia.org)
